Mencius and the Tale of Two Soldiers

During the Warring States Period (475-221 BCE) in China's history, the various states were constantly attacking one another. Hoping to stop the spread of war and help the people to live peaceful and stable lives, Mencius traveled from state to state, encouraging rulers to practice the Way of a Humane King, governing with humaneness and righteousness rather than through force and warfare.

One day, Mencius went to visit King Hui of the State of Liang. The king said:

“I have truly devoted my heart and efforts to governing my state. When there was a famine in the region of Henei, I relocated the refugees to Hedong and transported grain from Hedong to Henei to provide relief. When Hedong suffered a famine, I did the same in reverse. Looking at the neighboring states, not one ruler works as hard for his people as I do. Yet the populations of those states do not decrease, and the population of my state does not increase. Why is this?”

(Context: Each state wants more citizens to grow its power. Since it was a time of war and disorder, citizens could easily relocate themselves to whichever state they felt was more safe.)

Mencius replied:

“Since Your Majesty is fond of war, let me use a military example. Imagine the war drums are beating and two armies have already engaged in battle. Some soldiers throw away their armor and weapons and flee. One soldier runs a hundred paces before stopping, while another soldier runs only fifty paces before stopping. Suppose the soldier who ran fifty paces laughs at the one who ran one hundred paces, saying, ‘You coward!’ What would you think of that?”

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King Hui answered:

“That would be unreasonable. He may not have run one hundred paces, but running fifty paces is still running away.”

Mencius said:

“Since Your Majesty understands this principle, then you should not expect your state to have more people than the neighboring states. If all the rulers neglect the welfare of their people to varying degrees, how can any of them expect the people to flock to their state?”

Later, this story was condensed into the famous Chinese idiom “The one who fled fifty steps laughs at the one who fled a hundred steps” (五十步笑百步).

Commentary

King Hui felt he was better than other state rulers because he tried very hard to relieve victims of famine. Hence, he expected that citizens from neighboring states would hear his good name and migrate to his state. But that's not what happened, and he couldn't figure out why.

This reminds me of another Chinese idiom,

"The players are confused, but the spectators see everything clearly."

(當局者迷，旁觀者清)

In other words, it's hard for us to see our problems clearly, but other people can see our problems easily. That's why it's important for us to proactively seek feedback from the people around us, as King Hui did by asking Mencius.

Mencius explained that although King Hui saved people from famine, he still has another big problem: he is fond of war. That's why Mencius used a military analogy to try to help him realize his problem by himself. Sure, he saves people from famine, but if he is fond of war, then he will conscript many citizens to go to war, thereby putting their lives at risk.

From the perspective of the citizens, even if they don't have to fear famine, they still have to fear conscription. In their eyes, other kings "fled 100 steps" while King Hui "fled 50 steps". They're unsafe in any of the states, so why go through the effort of migrating?

Relating back to our lives, if we criticize other people's faults, yet we have the same fault, then they would think we are a hypocrite for criticizing others for something that we do ourselves. Even if we have that problem to a lesser degree, or if we have other faults that they can pick on, then we would be the "fifty step coward" criticizing the "hundred step coward". They would probably feel upset or unimpressed with us and argue back: "You have problems too! You don't have any right to criticize me!"

Thus, the Great Learning states:

"Exemplary people first have a strength before requesting others to have it, and they first eliminate a weakness in themselves before requesting others to eliminate it."

(Original Text: 君子有諸己而後求諸人，無諸己而後非諸人。)

This accords with human sentiment. If others know that we've worked hard to improve ourselves, then they would be willing to take advice from us regarding self-improvement. Moreover, if we truly corrected ourselves, then we would know how difficult it is to change bad habits. We would then be more patient and tolerant towards other people's bad habits, and we'd have the experience and wisdom to help guide (not demand) them in their improvement process.

To be clear, this doesn't mean we cannot advise others unless we've completely corrected a fault in ourselves. Rather, it means we shouldn't be criticizing others out of annoyance, especially when we ourselves are not perfect. However, even if we still have faults, as long as we are advising with their best intention at heart and with respect, then they would still respond positively.

This story also brings to mind another teaching from Mencius:

"If you love others but they do not get close to you, reflect on your humaneness. If you govern others but they aren't well-governed, reflect on your wisdom. If you treat others with courtesy but they do not return courtesy, reflect on your respect. When things do not go your way, reflect on yourself."

(Original Text: 愛人不親反其仁，治人不治反其智，禮人不答反其敬。行有不得者，皆反求諸己。)

King Hui thought he was being very kind, but the people weren't choosing to get closer to him. That's because he didn't truly have the best intentions of the people in mind. He merely wanted to grow his state, and he was willing to sacrifice lives to do so. People can feel our true intentions, so if others don't respond the way we expected, it's very important for us to reflect honestly on our intentions. Do we truly have their best intentions at heart, or do we have ulterior motives mixed in?

Concluding Thoughts

Have you ever committed the mistake of being the "fifty step coward" criticizing the "hundred step coward"? How would you behave differently now?

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Weekly Wisdom #400